Centenary Youth Orchestra presents classics, world premiere at November 10 concert
The Centenary Youth Orchestra (CYO) will present its fall concert on Monday, November 10, at 7:30 p.m. in Anderson Auditorium located at Centenary’s Hurley School of Music. The evening features the world premiere of Lacrimosa, a piece composed by Hurley student Haley Rippetoe, alongside selections from Handel and Beethoven. The program also showcases the talents of CYO violinist Ivy Joseph, a senior at Caddo Magnet High School in Shreveport.
The concert is free and open to the public and will also be streamed live on the CYO Facebook page at centenary.edu/cyo.
The concert opens with selected movements from Georg Frederic Handel’s Water Music Suite, the grandiose, Baroque masterpiece written for England's King George and several other aristocrats for an excursion up the river Thames to Chelsea in 1717. The royalty traveled on the royal barge, while about 50 musicians were assembled on another barge to perform the piece during the journey. “By every account,” shared CYO director Dan Santelices, “the reception by the King to the piece and the spectacle by those who witnessed this was a smashing success. The musicians repeated the piece at least three times without stopping on the way up and back."
The world premiere of Lacrimosa follows Handel’s 18th century classic. Composer Haley Rippetoe has been involved with the CYO and its Summer Chamber Music Program since her high school days at Parkway High School in Bossier City. Now a sophomore studying composition under Dr. James Eakin at the Hurley School of Music, Rippetoe approached Santelices earlier this semester with an original piece that she hoped the CYO could read through. Santelices, however, saw even greater potential in the composition.
“The quality of orchestration, the melody and harmony and overall languid atmosphere she has created, convinced me to program it for our opening concert,” said Santelices. “Not only will this be a world premiere of her composition, but Haley will make her conducting debut as well.”
Next on the program is the “Romanza Quartiere” from the 1987 movie Quartiere, by the Italian composer and orchestrator Ennio Morricone. CYO concertmaster Ivy Joseph is the featured soloist for the Morricone selection, a lesser-known piece that Santelices describes as “moving and nostalgic.” Joseph was also featured as a soloist in the spring 2025 CYO concert, performing the Bruch violin concerto as a winner of the CYO Concerto Competition.
The concert will conclude with movements I, II, and IV from the iconic symphonic masterpiece, Symphony No. 5 by Ludwig van Beethoven. The CYO last performed the work in 2020 during the COVID pandemic. As performance before an audience was not possible, a masked orchestra recorded the piece in an empty auditorium.
“I am so anxious and excited to present this piece live for an audience,” said Santelices. “Its familiarity makes it a challenge for a student organization like CYO to perform, due to the expectations of everyone's internal experience from hearing it as a stand-alone piece to its use in all forms of pop culture including film, television, and radio. It has been a pleasure and challenge getting the students prepared to play with the exceptional Hurley School of Music faculty and other Centenary community professionals who will join us for this concert.”
The CYO provides college-level playing experiences for advanced instrumentalists ages 13 and above. CYO members perform repertoire for strings, woodwinds, and brass in both chamber and large-scale orchestral settings. For more information, visit centenary.edu/hurley.